User blog:ISAAC Organization/Trial By Fire
Everyone was standing around... waiting... bored... Delays are commonplace at rocket tests. Some delays are planned, to allow time for last minute work to be completed. Some delays just happen when something breaks down or needs to be fixed. Nobody dreads these delays more that the crew members of the new Minotaur space capsule. Not only are they testing the new Minotaur crew capsule, but they're also testing the new Colossus rocket that will lift the Minotaur capsule into orbit someday. Hopefully someday soon. The three Minotaur crew members aren't astronauts. They're highly trained pilots, each with their own fields of expertise. Two women and one man. Each risking their life to further the exploration of space. It's their job to do everything the real astronauts will do, except actually launch the rocket and ride it into space. They have been aboard the capsule, simulating every aspect of the capsule's flight functions for the past two years. In fact, they got to name the newly manufactured capsule. They unanimously chose 'Minotaur', after the Greek mythological beast. Huge, incredibly strong, and practically unstoppable (and somewhat ugly and menacing). They were proud to work on and fine tune their 'Minotaur'. They compared their recently completed two year task to navigating the legendary labyrinth mentioned in the Minotaur's mythology. The shreiking siren sounded across the launch compound, signalling the end of the last delay. On board the Minotaur crew capsule, the three crew members are busy checking systems. They radio in as they activate each one. Everything was right on the mark. In a moment they will complete a full power engine trial. The new rocket, known as Colossus, is bolted to the launch pad. It won't actually lift off, but for 30 seconds the crew members will be sitting on top of a fully functioning rocket with its engines running at 100%. The engines will be generating well over one million pounds of thrust: 1,225,000 pounds was the exact number listed on the press release. The Colossus was named after the huge statue erected in ancient Greece: the Colossus of Rhodes; built almost 2300 years ago, and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. An incredible engineering feat, a statue of Helios, the God of the Sun. Ten stories tall and made of cast bronze. Many say that the rocket is aptly named. Fuel pressure is reading a little high, but that's not uncommon with new equipment in ground tests. Back at the Control Room, almost one mile away, a dozen more experts readies themselves for today's trials. Each of the twelve monitors a different aspect of today's test. John, the test supervisor, sat down at his command console and activated the intercom system. "Minotaur, are you go for full engine trial on Colossus? What is your status?" He asked the three crew. He smiled as he received the reply "Go!" from each crew member. "Go, Go, Go, it is!" he proclaimed happily, then began the countdown. "Colossus full power engine test will initiate in ten seconds...", he announced. "In nine..." "Eight..." "Seven..." "Engine start..." "Five..." "Four..." "Three..." "Two..." "One..." "Minotaur, you are go!" Everyone in the Control Room watched the main view screen. Most had their own smaller individual monitors for doing their jobs, but all eyes were on the main view screen for the majesty of the moment. Cheers, whistles and applause rang out as the engines of the Colossus burst into life. Flames and smoke began shooting out of the flame trenches on each side of the launch pad. Suddenly, the view screen showing the launch pad flashed a blinding white, then went totally black. For a fraction of a second, the lights inside the Control Room dimmed. Just as everyone turned to looked around at each other for answers, they heard the explosion and felt the floor of the room tremble. The lights flickered in the room and someone screamed. "Oh, God!" yelled John, the test supervisor. Hoping that his worst fears weren't coming true. Rosa, the flight director, reset the master power switch in front of her on her console and the view screen came back to life. Gasps and shouting filled the room. On the view screen, everyone saw the launch pad. A huge fireball rolled upward into the sky and seemingly everything on the ground was engulfed in an expansive lake of fire. Through the flames, the Colossus rocket was just barely visible as it sat on the pad, right in the middle of the hellish inferno. It was still bolted down. It wasn't going anywhere. It was burning up right where it sat... ... and the Minotaur capsule was right on top, with its three crew members trapped inside. It was almost as if the Colossus had dumped its nearly two million gallons of rocket fuel onto the ground, then set itself on fire. The launch pad was a burning mess. Metal towers and buildings were wrecked, flattened, and everything was on fire. Everyone heard the faint crackle of static coming across the communications system; and that wasn't a good sign. "Minotaur, come in!" John anxiously shouted into his head-mic. His eyes scanning the main view screen, looking for the Minotaur capsule in the flames on the launch pad. "Minotaur, come in! He repeated, more anxious this time. He turned to Rosa. She saw the fear in his eyes. Rosa gave no sign of fear. She couldn't. She wasn't allowed to. Each of these rocket trials were hers alone to complete. Everyone in the room was her eyes, her ears, and her hands... ... and those three crew members inside the Minotaur capsule were her responsibility. "Come in, Minotaur! This is Flight!" She announced into her head-mic. There was still no answer, only silence. She turned to the flight surgeon and anxiously asked her, "what's the crew status?" "Alive, but medical readings are extreme. All three are hanging in there," was the flight surgeon's reply. Her voice was nervous but confident. Rosa stared intently at the view screen, trying to see an answer that wasn't there to see. "Why haven't the safety protocols engaged? WHY HASN'T THE DAMN ESCAPE CAPSULE LAUNCHED??!!" she screamed at the view screen. She shot John a one word command, "STATUS?" John quickly scanned the nearly dozen status screens in front of him. His eyes tried to read the hundreds of numbers simultaneously. Then he saw it! "External power was never cut! They're still connected to ground power!" He called out. Rosa suddenly realized and announced with horror, "THAT MEANS THE COLOSSUS IS STILL IN STANDBY MODE!" "CUT THE LINE, JOHN! CUT THE LINE!" She ordered. Her voice commanding louder than ever before. John stabbed down on the power termination button and Colossus instantly switched to internal power. A thousandth of a second later, the Minotaur capsule's ejection program engaged and its escape engines fired. Combined, all eight of the powerful hybrid motors unleashed over 150,000 pounds of thrust. The Minotaur made a deafening roar, sounding like a monstrous bellowing bull escaping from Hell itself, as it instantly accelerated to full velocity. Streaking upward at Mach 3.7, the three crew members experienced 14 G's for the entire first second of the flight. "Son of a ...! That got their attention!" The flight surgeon announced loudly. "The crew's vitals are through the roof, but they're surviving the ride!" For a moment, the ascending Minotaur sucked a huge trail of fire up behind it as it climbed at near blinding speed. It almost looked like it was on fire as it flew, but it wasn't. For the next 31 seconds, no one spoke. All eyes were transfixed on the master view screen. The Minotaur pushed itself higher, leaving a huge smoke trail as it climbed to over 7000 feet. Everyone watched, except the flight surgeon. Her attention was held by three very special monitors. One for each crew member. Finally she turned to Rosa and John and announced, "crew readings returning to acceptable ranges". Rosa instructed John to re-establish the communications link with the capsule. He tried, but he couldn't get it to work. The explosion must have destroyed the antenna towers at the launch pad. The Minotaur soon reached maximum altitude and started to arc over, and then began its descent. "Well, the escape engines work great!" announced John happily; giving a thumb's up to nobody in particular. Everyone nodded and began to breath normally. They watched with quiet satisfaction as the Minotaur dropped peacefully for a few moments. A great cheer rang out in the room as the descent parachutes deployed properly. It would be a few minutes before it touched down. Radar telemetry showed that it would land about a mile from the launch pad. On a secondary view screen, the fire at the launch pad was pretty much burning itself out. Emergency fire crews were containing any spreading of the flames. Twisted steel girders lay half-melted on the ground, tossed there by the violence of the explosion. The Colossus rocket-frame still stood, though it was gutted, melted, and an utterly useless hulk of titanium alloy, but it still stood right where it was bolted in place. No one was hurt, and that's all that mattered. Very soon, the Minotaur landed as planned. It was badly scorched from the flames of the burning rocket fuel. In fact, whisps of smoke still trailed from its now blackened outer hull. The three crew members were shaken up, but they had survived. They soon unhooked their safety harnesses and started to talk amongst themselves. Tears, prayers, and even a little laughter happened inside the capsule as they waited for the recovery team to arrive. The electrical coupling error had caused a fire inside the Colossus, and the fire burned through the fuel lines, causing the explosion. If the Minotaur's ejection engines hadn't fired, they would've been burned to death in their capsule on top of the rocket. The technology worked. It was new and untested until today, but it worked. Today hadn't gone as they expected; but that's what these equipment tests and procedure trials were for: to make sure everything works perfectly. Today had truly been a trial by fire. Category:Blog posts